Newly discovered ancient Waterford homes predate Newgrange, Stonehenge and pyramids
Sarah Slater
Archaeologists have uncovered what are believed to be some of the earliest known houses, predating the ground passage tomb of Newgrange by several centuries.
The two Early Neolithic homes date from between 3600 and 3700 BC - meaning they were built more than 500 years before Stonehenge and around 1,200 years before the Great Pyramid of Giza.
The recent archaeological discoveries were made in the townland of Canty in Cappagh, Co Waterford, by Rubicon Archaeology Ltd and Roadstone Ltd.
Cappagh lies within the Dungarvan valley and is a landscape rich with history and archaeology, spanning thousands of years. At the heart of this sheltered limestone valley lies a network of caves that have produced some of Ireland's most important palaeolithic discoveries, spanning roughly 3.3 million to 11,650 years ago.
In 1859, mammoth remains were discovered at Shandon Cave in Dungarvan, alongside other Ice Age fauna. Excavations at Kilgreaney Cave, near Cappagh Quarry have uncovered Neolithic and Bronze Age burials, as well as Palaeolithic remains. Until recently, this rare archaeology was confined to the deep recesses of the valley caves.
Chrissy Knight O’Connor from Waterford County Museum explained that what archaeologists have “now uncovered in the landscape shows that from at least the Early Neolithic people lived, settled and buried their dead in the area, a tradition that continued into the Bronze Age and beyond”.
O’Connor added: “These discoveries will add substantially to our understanding of the earliest settled communities in Co Waterford.
A group of museum members was recently invited to visit the excavation site and learn more about this remarkable local discovery. Site Director Gillian McCarthy of Rubicon Archaeology guided visitors through the fascinating archaeology of the site, which included two Neolithic houses and a Bronze Age ring-ditch containing numerous cremation burial pits. McCarthy outlined more about these early homesteads.
“In the west of the quarry extension, close to the local access lane, we discovered a small Neolithic house. This house measured circa 6.5 metres x 5.6 metres internally, with an internal subdivision, internal hearth and post-holes. The foundation/slot trench measured 0.35m wide by 0.25 to 0.3m deep,” she continued.
Around 100 sherds of prehistoric pottery were found in this area, as well as a stone axe fragment. To the north of the site, a large Neolithic house 8.5m x 5.9m was also uncovered.
“The western side of the house was cut into limestone bedrock. More than 120 prehistoric pottery sherds and 20 flint and stone finds were uncovered from the larger house’.
The excavation team found a wide range of artefacts from the site, including prehistoric pottery. The most poignant of the finds was a fragment of a perfectly polished axe found beneath the floor of one of the houses, perhaps placed there as a symbolic deposit intended to protect the household.
Another stone axe was recovered from the site. This axe was probably made from stone sources outside the region and may have originated in the Great Langdale area of Cumbria, north-west England.
McCarthy noted: "The Bronze Age ring-ditch was 10m internal diameter, 0.8 m wide and 0.35 m deep with 27 internal features (was also found). Twenty cremation burials – four with prehistoric pottery, three stone-lined pits/posts, four pits, also two satellite cremations to the south-east of the ring-ditch.”
This ring-ditch was cut into the natural limestone bedrock, and only half of the ring-ditch was excavated, as it continued outside the limit of the quarry.
During Heritage Week 2026 Waterford County Museum and Rubicon Archaeology will be hosting a pop-up exhibition at Dungarvan Shopping Centre on August 15th, 17th and 23rd.
